Melissa McCarthy and Joshua Jackson announced the 63rd annual Emmy nominations Thursday morning, and, as usual, they were a mixed bag for TV fans. For every incredibly cool nomination, like Louis C.K. receiving writing and acting nominations or Parks & Recreation cracking the comedy lineup or Justified getting four of its actors nominated (including unexpected but welcome nods for Walton Goggins and Jeremy Davies), there was something either disheartening or downright baffling, like Johnny Galecki getting a nomination no one was predicting for The Big Bang Theory or Justified somehow missing drama series (ignored for the likes of Dexter!) despite all of those acting nominations or Community getting totally and completely snubbed for the second year in a row. (It couldn't even manage an animated program nomination for the Christmas special.) Also totally ignored? Terriers, though that was mostly expected. (About the only category it had a realistic shot in was the one for theme song, which it somehow missed out on, despite having the greatest theme song ever.) But, hey, The Killing got six nominations, and the much derided Veena Sud is now an Emmy nominee for her scripting of the pilot. So we've all got that going for us.
HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce led the nominations count with 21 nominations, followed by 19 for AMC's Mad Men, 18 for HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and 17 for ABC's Modern Family. Mad Men, coming off three straight drama wins, seems like the prohibitive favorite in that category again with that many nominations. Its dominance extended even down to the guest categories, where Randee Heller, the woman who played Miss Blankenship, drew a nomination. Modern Family also seems likely to repeat its comedy series win with that many nominations, and it drew three directing nominations, as well as four supporting actor nominations (the most a show has dominated that category ever). Indeed, the show's entire adult cast was nominated, which is something no other show can say. Other nomination totals of note included Game Of Thrones, which garnered 13 nominations after some doubted the Academy would embrace a fantasy series, and Glee, which scored 12 nominations, down sharply from its season one total of 19.
As always, if you poke around in the nominations list, you'll find both some very odd stuff and some very welcome stuff. Pamela Fryman, for instance, is an Emmy nominee for her work on How I Met Your Mother for the first time, after holding together nearly every single episode of that show for six seasons. But at the same time, a cursory scan of the nominations will reveal that the Academy also embraced Harry's Law, nominating Kathy Bates in the lead category and Paul McCrane for a guest stint on the show. The best anyone can ever hope for from the Emmys is that they don't screw it up too badly, and though there are some very weird nominations this year, they're offset by some very cool, very unexpected ones as well. They aren't perfect nominations, but every category has at least one very deserving nominee. And that's pretty good for the Emmys.
To read the full list of nominees, go here.
Outstanding Drama Series:
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
Friday Night Lights
Game Of Thrones
The Good Wife
Mad Men
Outstanding Comedy Series:
The Big Bang Theory
Glee
Modern Family
The Office
Parks & Recreation
30 Rock
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series:
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Kyle Chandler, Friday Night Lights
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
Timothy Olyphant, Justified
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series:
Kathy Bates, Harry's Law
Connie Britton, Friday Night Lights
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series:
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Louis C.K., Louie
Steve Carell, The Office
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series:
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Melissa McCarthy, Mike & Molly
Martha Plimpton, Raising Hope
Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series:
Andre Braugher, Men Of A Certain Age
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Peter Dinklage, Game Of Thrones
Walton Goggins, Justified
John Slattery, Mad Men
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series:
Christine Baranski, The Good Wife
Michelle Forbes, The Killing
Christina Hendricks, Mad Men
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Margo Martindale, Justified
Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series:
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Chris Colfer, Glee
Jon Cryer, Two And A Half Men
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family
Ed O'Neill, Modern Family
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series:
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Jane Krakowski, 30 Rock
Jane Lynch, Glee
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Betty White, Hot In Cleveland
Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series:
Beau Bridges, Brothers & Sisters
Jeremy Davies, Justified
Bruce Dern, Big Love
Michael J. Fox, The Good Wife
Paul McCrane, Harry's Law
Robert Morse, Mad Men
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series:
Cara Buono, Mad Men
Joan Cusack, Shameless
Loretta Devine, Grey's Anatomy
Randee Heller, Mad Men
Mary McDonnell, The Closer
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series:
Will Arnett, 30 Rock
Matt Damon, 30 Rock
Idris Elba, The Big C
Zach Galifianakis, Saturday Night Live
Nathan Lane, Modern Family
Justin Timberlake, Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series:
Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock
Kristin Chenoweth, Glee
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live
Dot-Marie Jones, Glee
Cloris Leachman, Raising Hope
Gwyneth Paltrow, Glee
Outstanding Miniseries Or Made-For-TV Movie:
Cinema Verite
Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)
The Kennedys
Mildred Pierce
The Pillars Of The Earth
Too Big To Fail
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or Made-For-TV Movie:
Idris Elba, Luther
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
William Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Greg Kinnear, The Kennedys
Barry Pepper, The Kennedys
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or Made-For-TV Movie:
Taraji P. Henson, Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Jean Marsh, Upstairs Downstairs (Masterpiece)
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or Made-For-TV Movie:
Paul Giamatti, Too Big To Fail
Brian F. O'Byrne, Mildred Pierce
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tom Wilkinson, The Kennedys
James Woods, Too Big To Fail
Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Miniseries Or Made-For-TV Movie:
Eileen Atkins, Upstairs Downstairs (Masterpiece)
Melissa Leo, Mildred Pierce
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)
Mare Winningham, Mildred Pierce
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce
Outstanding Reality Competition Program:
The Amazing Race
American Idol
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
So You Think You Can Dance
Top Chef
Outstanding Reality Program:
Antiques Roadshow
Deadliest Catch
Hoarders
Kathy Griffin: My Life On The D-List
MythBusters
Undercover Boss
Outstanding Nonfiction Series:
American Masters
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
Biography
Moguls & Movie Stars
Pioneers Of Television
30 For 30
Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality Competition Program:
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With The Stars
Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance
Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race
Jeff Probst, Survivor
Ryan Seacrest, American Idol
Outstanding Variety, Music, Or Comedy Series:
The Colbert Report
Conan
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
Real Time With Bill Maher
Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Variety, Music, Or Comedy Special:
Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On
Carrie Fisher In Wishful Drinking
The Kennedy Center Honors
Lady GaGa Presents The Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden
The Pee-Wee Herman Show On Broadway
Outstanding Animated Program:
The Cleveland Show, "Murray Christmas"
Futurama, "The Late Philip J Fry"
Robot Chicken, "Star Wars Episode III"
The Simpsons, "Angry Dad"
South Park, "Crack Baby Athletic Association"
Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program:
Adventure Time, "It Came From The Nightosphere"
Disney Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa
Regular Show, "Mordecai And The Rigbys"
Robot Chicken, "Robot Chicken's DP Christmas Special"
SpongeBob SquarePants, "That Sinking Feeling"
Outstanding Voice-Over Performance:
Bob Bergen, The Looney Tunes Show
Dan Castellaneta, The Simpsons
Seth Green, Robot Chicken
Maurice LaMarche, Futurama
Christopher Plummer, Moguls & Movie Stars Brenda Strong, Desperate Housewives
Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire – "Anastasia," Jeremy Podeswa
Boardwalk Empire – "Boardwalk Empire (Pilot)," Martin Scorsese
The Borgias – "The Poisoned Chalice/The Assassin," Neil Jordan
Game Of Thrones – "Winter Is Coming (Pilot)," Tim Van Patten
The Killing – "Pilot," Patty Jenkins
Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series
How I Met Your Mother – "Subway Wars," Pamela Fryman
Modern Family – "Halloween," Michael Alan Spiller
Modern Family – "See You Next Fall," Steve Levitan
Modern Family – "Slow Down Your Neighbors," Gail Mancuso
30 Rock – "Live Show," Beth McCarthy-Miller
Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
Friday Night Lights – "Always," Jason Katims
Game Of Thrones – "Baelor," David Benioff and D.B. Weiss
The Killing – "Pilot," Veena Sud
Mad Men – "Blowing Smoke," Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton
Mad Men – "The Suitcase," Matthew Weiner
Outstanding Writing For A Comedy Series
Episodes – "Episode 107," David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik
Louie – "Poker/Divorce," Louis C.K.
Modern Family – "Caught In The Act," Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman
The Office – "Good-Bye Michael," Greg Daniels
30 Rock – "Reaganing," Matt Hubbard
Outstanding Writing For A Variety, Music, Or Comedy Series:
The Colbert Report
Conan
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon
Saturday Night Live